Labels get in the way of fully understanding\u00a0people<\/h2>\n

<\/a>In a recent Twitter chat<\/a> #vted we were discussing digital citizenship and the confounded label \u201cdigital native\u201d came up. \u00a0Labels typically get in the way of fully understanding people, and these terms \u201cdigital native\u201d and \u201cdigital immigrant\u201d smack of ageism and false assumptions. \u00a0Coined by Marc Prensky<\/a> over 14 years ago, it was meant to prompt educators to think differently about teaching and learning. \u00a0The digital tools now available to learners allow us to go far beyond the walls of the classroom; one of my history teachers is blogging with students in Bhutan this week, for example, mutually solving problems through the lenses of their own culture. \u00a0When I was in ninth grade, we had a dusty old textbook that managed to make even Ancient Rome boring. \u00a0The world has indeed changed and teaching and learning need to change with the times.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s my problem?<\/p>\n

The terms have taken on new meaning over the year, and often are used as a short-hand way of saying that people born before 1980 just don\u2019t \u2018get it\u2019 when it comes to using technology well. \u00a0Some assume that because students today grew up with computers and cell phones they have some innate ability to use the tools well.<\/p>\n

Not so.<\/p>\n

They may be highly skilled at texting or Snapchatting<\/a>, but unless someone teaches them to use the power of the machines well, the interactions are typically fairly shallow. \u00a0The \u2018digital immigrants\u2019 \u2019 understanding of skills in communication, collaboration, problem solving, numeracy, digital citizenship, etc. are vital to encourage deeper thinking and learning.
\nThe broad terms also suggest that all learners have the same opportunities. \u00a0Consider these data from www.broadbandvt.org<\/a>:<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Although access has improved in the last four years, children who live in poverty are less likely to have access to devices and to Internet access. This is yet another example of a digital divide, a term we should be more concerned with.<\/p>\n

It also seems to suggest that because all students have technology skills, teachers don\u2019t need to bother too much with things they don\u2019t intuitively understand. It subtly shifts responsibility to learners.<\/p>\n

Actually, the opposite is needed.<\/p>\n

All teachers need to be teachers of Internet safety. All teachers need to be helping learners harness the power of technology to engage students in authentic tasks, solving real-world problems. Digital Natives and Immigrants can become Digital Partners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Labels get in the way of fully understanding\u00a0people In a recent Twitter chat #vted we were discussing digital citizenship and the confounded label \u201cdigital native\u201d came up. \u00a0Labels typically get in the way of fully understanding people, and these terms \u201cdigital native\u201d and \u201cdigital immigrant\u201d smack of ageism and false assumptions. \u00a0Coined by Marc Prensky … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The digital native problem”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[366],"class_list":["post-5649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-digital-natives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5649"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31398,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5649\/revisions\/31398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}